Apparatus and method for partitioning and managing subsystem logics

ABSTRACT

A subsystem logics partitioning and managing apparatus comprises a recognition unit for recognizing logical and physical resources that constitute a subsystem a partition definition table in which the logical and physical resources in the subsystem are assigned for each user at an interface level at which a storage configuration can be referenced by a storage management program an account table in which an account is set for each user-specific partition defined in the partition definition table a receiving unit for receiving a user account transmitted from an information processing unit and checking the received user account against the account table, to recognize a partition that corresponds to the user and a unit for outputting, at a GUI level, logical resources and physical resources that are contained in the recognized partition to an output interface as a resource configuration in the subsystem.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-300363 on which the presentapplication is based and which was applied on Aug. 25, 2003 is hereinincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus, method, and program forpartitioning and managing logics which are present in a subsystem, and arecording medium for recording the program.

2. Description of the Related Art

A storage subsystem is proposed which is expected to be accessed from avariety of types of computers and which has a port to which an interfacefor connecting to a plurality of computers can be applied, a logicalunit (LU) which can be accessed from the computers via said port, one ora plurality of storage devices for storing data which is stored in saidlogical unit, and a storage control device for conducting read/writecontrol on the storage devices in order to realize security for eachlogical unit while effectively utilizing system resources in aconventional Logical Unit Number (LUN) security function. The computersaccessing the logical unit are grouped into groups in such a manner thatthe computers can overlap each other. Each of the groups is assigned oneor a plurality of logical units, and a management table is providedwhich correlates the assigned logical units and storage regions of thestorage devices in such a manner that they can overlap each other.

On the other hand, the increasing storage capacity of a storage systemhas prompted large-scale storage consolidation. With storageconsolidation, in a subsystem, there exist in a mixed manner a pluralityof data belonging to a plurality of systems/applications. However, asecurity function in an aspect of storage management involved in storageconsolidation has not sufficiently been provided by a GUI-level maskingtechnology or conventional technology that provides security functionsfor data access itself.

That is, according to the conventional GUI-level masking etc., resourcesof upper storage management software are not partitioned on an interfacewhich is adapted to instruct an actual storage to change aconfiguration. This is a problem. Therefore, such an issue is leftunsolved that by using this interface, the configuration can be changedarbitrarily irrespective of a partitioning unit on a GUI etc.

Further, conventionally, partitioning of resources to such an extentthat the upper storage management software can recognize (at alogical-volume level) is possible, whereas partitioning of physicalresources that cannot be recognized by the management software (e.g., atan HDD level) has been impossible. Furthermore, even in the case of thispartitioning at the logical-volume level, it cannot be known to whichphysical resources the logical volumes are allocated, so that some ofthe resources, even if partitioned as described above, may be commonphysically in some cases, which remains as a problem in performance orsecurity.

Therefore, in a case where partitioning of logics of a subsystem inwhich storage consolidation has been performed is managed according tothe conventional method, there is a possibility that an administratormay mistakenly perform an operation such as addition/deletion even to aregion of other users, administrators and companies in relation toprocessing such as addition/deletion because such processing can beperformed on an LU by configuration changing functions of an RAID. Thismay lead to system panic or user data destruction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, to accommodate storage consolidation and allow some of theconfiguration changing functions of an RAID for multiple administrators,in view of the above problems, the storage system and the storagemanagement software need to have a function to guard againstconfiguration changing of unauthorized area system area from anadministrator other than the system area which is assigned for theadministrator.

In view of such a background, the present invention has been made and itis an object of the present invention to provide a subsystem logicspartitioning and managing apparatus, method, and program for enablingconfiguration changing functions of an RAID within a predeterminedlimit, and a recording medium for recording the program.

For this end, a subsystem logics partitioning and managing apparatusaccording to one feature of the present invention comprises:

means for recognizing logical resources and physical resources thatconstitute a subsystem;

a partition definition table in which logical and physical resources insaid subsystem are assigned for each user at an interface level at whicha storage configuration can be referenced by a storage managementprogram;

an account table in which a partition-specific account is set for eachuser defined in said partition definition table;

means for receiving a user account transmitted from an informationprocessing unit and collating the received user account to said accounttable to thereby recognize a partition corresponding to said user; and

means for outputting logical resources and physical resources that areincluded in said recognized partition to an output interface as aresource configuration in said subsystem.

The subsystem logics partitioning and managing apparatus comprises meansfor outputting, at a GUI level, logical resources and physical resourcesthat are contained in said partition to an output interface as aresource configuration in said subsystem.

The subsystem logics partitioning and managing apparatus comprises meansfor accepting from the information processing unit a request forchanging a configuration of said output logical resources or physicalresources and changing said configuration of said logical resources orsaid physical resources in said partition definition table.

Resources to be assigned for each user in said partition definitiontable include a port, a logical unit, a logical device indicative of alogical storage region assigned to said logical unit, and a disk unitgroup having a disk unit and a parity bit-use disk unit which storesdata recovery information of said disk unit.

The subsystem logics partitioning and managing apparatus comprises meansfor collating a requested specification of a logical unit accepted froman information processing unit to an assignment policy for said logicaldevice and said disk unit group that are defined for each user, toperform assignment of a logical device and a disk unit group inaccordance with said policy, thereby generating a logical unit.

The assignment policy comprises:

a first policy for selecting said logical device from a disk unit groupto which no other partitions are assigned and in which no such disk unitgroup is present that control on input/output operations to disk unitsis conducted via the same adapter, to generate a logical unit;

a second policy for selecting said logical device from a disk unit groupto which no other partitions are assigned, to generate a logical unit;and

a third policy for selecting said logical device from a disk unit groupto which no other partitions that correspond to said first and secondpolicies are assigned, to generate a logical unit.

Furthermore, resources to be assigned for each user include a cache.

According to another feature of the present invention there is provideda method for partitioning and managing logics in a subsystem whichcomprises a partition definition table in which logical resources andphysical resources in said subsystem are assigned for each user at aninterface level at which a computer can reference a storageconfiguration by using a storage management program and an account tablein which a partition-specific account is set for each user that isdefined in said partition definition table, said method comprising thesteps of:

recognizing said logical and physical resources that constitute saidsubsystem;

receiving an account of a user transmitted from aninformation-processing device and collating the received user account tosaid account table, to recognize a partition corresponding to said user;and

outputting logical and physical resources contained in said recognizedpartition to an output interface as a resource configuration in saidsubsystem.

According to a further feature of the present invention there isprovided a subsystem logics partitioning and managing program forcausing a computer capable of utilizing a partition definition table inwhich logical resources and physical resources in a subsystem areassigned for each user at an interface level at which a storageconfiguration can be referenced by using a storage management programand an account table in which a partition-specific account is set foreach user that is defined in said partition definition table to performa method for partitioning and managing logics of said subsystem, saidprogram comprising the steps of:

recognizing said logical and physical resources that constitute saidsubsystem;

receiving an account of a user transmitted from aninformation-processing device and collating the received user account toagainst said account table, to recognize a partition corresponding tosaid user; and

outputting logical and physical resources contained in said recognizedpartition to an output interface as a resource configuration in saidsubsystem. This program is comprised of codes for performing said steps.

According to a still further feature of the present invention there isprovided a computer-readable recording medium for recording saidsubsystem logics partitioning and managing program.

The other problems and the corresponding solutions disclosed in thepresent application will be made clear by description of embodiments ofthe present invention and drawings.

According to the present invention, the configuration changing functionsof the RAID can be released within a predetermined range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will nowbecome apparent from the description of the embodiments of the inventionin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an illustration for showing a configuration of a storagesystem according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an illustration for showing a use case image according to thepresent embodiment.

FIG. 3A is an illustration for showing a relationship among a disk arraydevice, an API, and a GUI according to a conventional example.

FIG. 3B is an illustration for showing the relationship among a diskarray device, an API, and a GUI according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for showing an initial partition definition flow(with a policy) according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for showing the initial partition definition flow(without policy) according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for showing a configuration referencing/updatingflow according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an illustration for showing a system configuration (with apolicy base resource assigning function) and a partition definitiontable.

FIG. 8 is an illustration for showing the system configuration (withoutpolicy base resource assigning function) and the partition definitiontable.

FIG. 9 is an illustration for showing one example of an account table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

<System Configuration>

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a storage system according to thepresent embodiment. A subsystem 10 and a host 25 are interconnected viaan interface 30 (hereinafter referred to as fibre channel 30) such as,for example, an SCSI or a fibre channel. As one example of aninformation processing unit, the host 25 is, for example, an open-systemtype computer and can be assumed to be a personal computer orworkstation in which an open-system type operating system (OS) operates.The subsystem 10 comprises a plurality of ports 11 for connection withports of the fibre channel 30, a channel adapter (CHA) 12 forcontrolling a cache and data transfer, a service processor 13 (herereferred to as SVP), a shared memory 14 for storing configurationinformation for use in control, a disk adapter (here referred to as DKA)15 for controlling input/output operations to be performed to a storagedevice 16 such as an HDD, and the storage device 16.

Further, as described above, not in a physical configuration but in alogical configuration, the subsystem 10 comprises the ports 11, a hostgroup 18 (here referred to as Host Group) assigned to the port 11, alogical unit 19 (hereinafter referred to as LU), a logical device 20(hereinafter referred to as LDEV), and a disk unit group 21 (herereferred to as ECC Group).

It is to be noted that a storage region of the storage system which isprovided to the LU19 is managed in units of the LDEV20 (Logical Device).The LDEV20 is a logical volume includes a part of some disk units thatcompose a disk unit group of the disk array. The host 25 specifiesstorage regions to be provided by the LDEV20, in units of said LU19. TheLUsl9 are each given a Logical Unit Number (LUN), which is a uniqueidentifier. At the host 25, the LUN can be, for example, a drive name ora device file name.

Further, said disk unit group 21 is comprised of a disk unit and aparity bit-use disk unit for storing data recovery information of thisdisk unit, which disk unit group 21 itself constitutes the LDEV20.

A management client 40 performs input/output operations to thissubsystem 10 through a network 35 such as an LAN and performs managementprocessing. This management client 40 may be referred to as an inputinterface that permits an administrator (hereinafter referred to asuser) of logical/physical resources in the subsystem 10 which arepartitioned and managed by a method according to the present inventionto reference a configuration of these resources or request for changingthe configuration. This management client 40 can have access through thenetwork 35 to a managing configuration information (partition definitiontable) 17 of the service processor 13, and reference only aconfiguration region of predetermined resources defined for the user andchange it.

FIG. 2 is an illustration for showing a use case image according to thepresent embodiment. By applying a subsystem logics partitioning andmanaging method according to the present invention, even in thesubsystem 10 in which a large-scale storage consolidation has beenperformed, data belonging to a plurality of systems/applications presentin a mixed manner are partitioned for each of said users so that none ofsaid users can violate a boundary between partitions.

That is, in contrast to, for example, a conventional GUI-level maskingtechnique etc., resources of storage management software are partitionedon an interface provided for instructing an actual storage to change aconfiguration (which interface is supposed to be an application programinterface (API)). Therefore, even if this interface is utilized to placeaccess from the management client 40 to a partition 50 in the subsystem10, no contradiction occurs between a partitioning unit returned fromthe service processor 13 to this management client 40 and a range withinwhich the configuration can be changed.

For example, even if certain access to the partition 50 through themanagement client 40 is normal, access to any one of the otherpartitions 51–53 is not permitted. Further, GUI display about the otherpartitions is not output. Alternatively, even if GUI display is givenalso about other partitions, changing etc. of the resource configurationis not accepted. In this case, a relationship among a display, the API,and the GUI is such as shown in FIG. 3. Partitioning processing by theconventional technologies has been realized at a GUI level, to enableviewing or operating even a configuration of all of the resources at anAPI level. However, according to the present invention, the user ispermitted to perform viewing or a variety of operations only to aresource configuration at the GUI level, so that even a trial is made toview or change the resource configuration at, for example, the APIlevel, only a configuration of the resources assigned to this user ispresented from the beginning. That is, partitioning is established evenat the API level.

A storage manager managing the subsystem 10 integrally assigns the diskunit group 21 (in a logical configuration) that constitutes a partitionfor each of said users from the disk unit group 21 (in a physicalconfiguration) included in the subsystem 10. In this case, the serviceprocessor 13 can perform this processing by applying an internalhierarchy control function (hereafter referred to as HIHSM) formoving/rearranging data to an optimal disk drive in accordance withaccess properties in the subsystem in which there are in a mixed mannera plurality of disk drives having different properties such asperformance and a capacity.

Further, by applying a function (hereafter referred to as CVS) forcreating a logical unit having an arbitrary size, a disk capacity can beutilized efficiently. Furthermore, by applying a function (hereafterreferred to as LUSE) for combining a plurality of standard logical unitsto create a mass-capacity LU, it is possible to provide the logical unit19 having a huge size to the host, thus accommodating a large-scaleapplication.

It is to be noted that by further applying a method according to thepresent invention to a subsystem to which conventionally proposed LUNsecurity has been applied, in addition to a LUN security function forenabling setting an accessible host for each logical unit, such afunction can also be provided as to correlate resource configurationdisplay and a configuration changing permission/rejection scope for eachof the users in the subsystem, which is preferable. Moreover, it ispossible also to place access restrictions on a request forreferencing/changing of the resource configuration at an API level, thusfurther improving the security.

<Description of Processing>

Description will be made of an actual procedure for performing subsystemlogics partitioning and managing method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. It is to be noted that various operationscorresponding to the subsystem logics partitioning and managing methoddescribed below are realized by a program which is utilized by theservice processor 14, which program is comprised of codes which are usedto perform the various operations described below.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for showing an initial partition definition flow(with a policy) according to an embodiment of the present embodiment.First, initial partitioning to be performed in response to a requestsent from the user is described. The service processor 14 is supposed tohave recognized logical and physical resources that constitute thesubsystem 10, beforehand. Information of this configuration is stored inthe managing configuration information 17 (s400). This configurationinformation 17 provides a definition table in which the logicalresources and the physical resources in the subsystem are assigned foreach of the users at an interface level at which a storage configurationcan be referenced by the storage management program, that is, an APIlevel.

In a partition definition table in FIG. 7 showing a system configuration(with a policy base resource assigning function) and the partitiondefinition table, such a data configuration is provided that using aname of “User” as a key, IDs of a policy set about this user, and saidport 11, host group 18, LVOL, LDEV20, and disk unit group (ECC) 21 thatare assigned are related with columns 500–506 respectively.

When having received a user account transmitted as involved in accessfrom an information processing unit such as said host 25 (s401), saidservice processor 14 collates the received user account to an accounttable (FIG. 9) for checking. FIG. 9 shows one example of an accounttable 600. The account table 600 has such a data configuration thatusing said name of “User” as a key, a user ID and a password are relatedwith columns 601–603. These user ID and password can be registered onlyby an upper user (supervisor).

The service processor 14 can recognize or identify the partition 50 thatcorresponds to this user, based on said collation. For example, if theuser name is “odawara”, a configuration of accessible resources will besuch that ports “1A” and “2A” correspond to host groups “00” and “00”respectively, with the LDEVs being “00.00” through “00.03”, and the diskunit group being “1—1”.

On the other hand, when having received a partition creation instructioncontaining instruction information such as a port, a host group, anLVOL, or a policy from the user (s402), it collates a requiredspecification of the logical unit 19 accepted from the informationprocessing unit such as the host 25, with respect to an assignmentpolicy for said logical device 19 and said disk unit group 21 that aredefined for each of the users. FIG. 7 is an illustration for showing asystem configuration (with a policy base resource assigning function)and a partition definition table. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, saidassignment policy is supposed to have been defined for each of the usersin the managing configuration information 17.

Therefore, the managing configuration information 17 in the presentembodiment has such a data configuration that using “User” as a key, theassignment policy, the port, the host group, the LVOL (virtual unit thatcorresponds to the required specification request), the LDEV, and thedisk unit group are related with the columns 500–506. However, until theLVOL that corresponds to said use request is defined, said LDEV and saiddisk unit groups remain undefined.

The service processor 14 recognizes this policy based on said managingconfiguration information 17 (s403). If the user is, for example,“odawara”, the relevant assignment policy is “independent” (written as“independent”). This “independent” policy provides a first policy thatgives a provision to the effect that “a logical unit should be generatedby selecting a logical device from a disk unit group to which no otherpartitions are assigned and in which no such disk unit group is presentthat control on input/output operations to disk units is conducted viathe same adapter”.

Further, as an example of the other policies, there is a second policy,that is, “partially shared” policy (hereafter referred to as “partial”)that gives a provision to the effect that “a logical unit should begenerated by selecting said logical device from a disk unit group towhich no other partitions are assigned”.

Furthermore, there is a third policy, that is, “shared use” policy(hereafter referred to as “shared”) that gives a provision to the effectthat “a logical unit should be generated by selecting said logicaldevice from a disk unit group to which no other partitions correspondingto said first and second policies are assigned”.

The service processor 14, which has recognized the assignment policy asdescribed above, performs assignment of a logical device and a disk unitgroup that correspond to this policy (s404). Based on these selectedlogical device and disk unit group, it generates a logical unit (s405).Now that the logical unit has been thus generated and so the resourceconfiguration of this user's partition has been updated, of course saidmanaging configuration information 17 is also updated. That is, theprocess registers the resources in the partition definition table (s406)and ends the processing.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for showing the initial partition definition flow(without policy) according to the present embodiment. Next, initialpartitioning processing in response to a request from the user in thecase of taking into account no policy is described. The serviceprocessor 14 is supposed to have recognized beforehand the logical andphysical resources that constitute the subsystem 10. Information of thisconfiguration is stored in the managing configuration information 17beforehand (s500). This managing configuration information 17 provides adefinition table in which the logical resources and the physicalresources in the subsystem are assigned for each of the users at aninterface level at which the storage configuration can be referenced bythe storage management program, that is, an API level.

In a partition definition table in FIG. 8 showing the systemconfiguration (without policy base resource assigning function) and thepartition definition table, such a data configuration is provided thatusing a name of “User” as a key, IDs of said port 11, host group 18,LDEV20, and disk unit group (ECC) 21 that are assigned to this user arerelated to columns 400–404.

When having received a user account transmitted as involved in accessfrom an information processing unit such as said host 25 (s501), saidservice processor 14 collates the received user account against theaccount table (see FIG. 9) the same way as described above.

The service processor 14 can recognize the partition 50 that correspondsto this user, based on said collation. For example, if the user name is“odawara”, a configuration of accessible resources will be such thatports “1A” and “2A” correspond to host groups “00” and “00”respectively, with the LDEVs being “00.00” through “00.03”, and the diskunit group being “1—1”.

On the other hand, when having received a partition creation instructioncontaining instruction information such as a port, a host group, or anLVOL from the user (s502), it collates a required specification of thelogical unit 19 accepted from the information processing unit such asthe host 25 against a situation, contained in the managing configurationinformation 17, in which said logical device 19 and said disk unit group21 are assigned to the other users. As shown in FIG. 8, said managingconfiguration information 17 has such a data configuration that using“User” as a key, the assigned port, host group, LDEV, and disk unitgroup are related with the columns 400–404.

Said service processor 14, which has recognized the resources that canbe assigned to said user based on said managing configurationinformation 17, assigns a logical device and a disk unit group (s503).Based on these selected logical device and disk unit group, it generatesa logical unit (s504). Now that the logical unit has been thus generatedand so the resource configuration of this user's partition has beenupdated, of course said managing configuration information 17 is alsoupdated.

That is, the process registers the resources in the partition definitiontable (s505) and ends the processing.

Next, resource configuration referencing/updating to be performed inresponse to a request from the user is described. FIG. 6 is a flowchartfor showing a configuration referencing/updating flow according to thepresent embodiment. The service processor 14 is supposed to haverecognized beforehand the logical and physical resources that constitutethe subsystem 10 (s600). Information of this configuration is stored inthe managing configuration information 17 as described above.

The service processor 14 accepts from an information processing unitsuch as said host 25 a user's login request involving a specification ofa user ID and a password and goes through appropriate authenticationprocessing, to perform login processing (s601). When having received auser account transmitted as involved in the login (s602), the serviceprocessor 14 collates it against an account table shown in FIG. 9 asdescribed above.

The service processor 14 can recognize the partition 50 that correspondsto this user, based on said collation (s603). For example, if the useris “odawara”, a configuration of accessible resources will be such thatports “1A” and “2A” correspond to host groups “00” and “00”respectively, with the host group being “00”, the LDEVs being “00.00”through “00.03”, and the disk unit group being “1—1” (see FIG. 7 or 8).

The service processor 14 outputs to said host 25 the logical resourcesand the physical resources that are contained in said recognizedpartition 50, as a resource configuration in the subsystem (s604). If,then, no changing request is sent from the host 25 (NO at s605), theprocessing ends. If a changing request is sent from the host 25 (YES ats605), on the other hand, it is accepted (s606). In this case, ofcourse, the other partitions or changing requests from the otherpartitions are rejected.

The service processor 14, which has received said changing request,allows rewriting of the relevant logical resources or physical resourcesin said managing configuration information 17. Alternatively, it changescontents of the table in order to change the configuration in accordancewith contents of the changing request (s607) and ends the processing.

It is to be noted that said service processor 14 can also output at aGUI level to said host 25 the logical resources and the physicalresources that are contained in a partition 50 assigned for each user,as a resource configuration in the subsystem. It is to be noted that theresource configuration to be output at the GUI level is supposed tocontain only such resources that a user's request for configurationchanging/viewing can be accepted. Therefore, a request forchanging/viewing about partitions of the other users or from the otherpartitions is rejected. Alternatively, such a configuration may beprovided that only viewing is permitted but configuration changing isnot accepted.

In said GUI output, such data may be assumed that a relationship amongsaid resources is configured in a tree format. Further, a pattern of theGUI output may be any of a variety of applicable ones such as a patternin which only the partition 50 of said user is displayed and the otherpartitions are masked, a pattern in which resources shared in theconfiguration, if any, are added to said partition 50 and displayed, anda pattern in which all the partitions are displayed but configurationchanging of only the partition 50 is accepted.

Furthermore, displaying/masking of said configuration resources may besubject to output processing based on a policy in said managingconfiguration information 17, in such a manner that if, for example, thepolicy is “independent”, only the configuration resources of therelevant user are displayed, that if the policy is “shared use”, boththe configuration resources of the relevant user and those of the otherusers are displayed, and that if it is “partially shared”, engagementbetween the configuration resources of the relevant user and thoseshared by him and the other users is also displayed.

As described above, the subsystem logics partitioning and managingmethod according to the present invention is performed for managing, atan API level, access to a partition of interest from an informationprocessing unit and changing of a configuration.

It is thus possible to release (some of) the configuration changingfunctions of the RAID while keeping security, for each of the partitions50, that is, for each system or each user of an application. That is,said user can perform addition/changing of settings of resources withina range of volumes assigned by a storage manager.

Such an effect becomes more significant especially in a situation thatstorages of a plurality of systems are present in a mixed manner in onesubsystem owing to storage consolidation, thereby providing a merit ofintegrated management due to storage consolidation without deterioratingconvenience of each user.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a subsystem logics partitioning andmanaging apparatus, method, and program for enabling releasingconfiguration changing functions of the RAID within a predeterminedrange, and a recording medium for recording the program.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to itsembodiments, the present invention is not limited to them but may bemodified variously without departing from its gist in scope.

1. A disk array system, comprising: a port receiving data from aninformation processing device; a first controller transferring datareceived by said port; a memory storing data in accordance with thetransferring performed by said first controller; a second controllertransferring data stored in said memory; a plurality of disk drivegroups to which data transferred by said second controller is stored andhaving a plurality of storage regions in a plurality of disk drives; aplurality of logical units being addresses to which data is sent fromsaid information processing device and corresponding to said storageregions; and a plurality of resource groups each having a first pluralkinds of resources among said ports, said first controller, said memory,said second controller, said disk drive groups, and said logical units,wherein, in order to change configuration in a first resource group ofsaid resource groups, a first resource in said first resource group ispermitted to change from a first state of relating to a second resourcein said first resource group into a second state of relating to a thirdresource in said first resource group without being permitted to changeto a third state of relating to a fourth resource in a second resourcegroup of said resource groups.
 2. The disk array system according toclaim 1, further comprising: a plurality of information processingdevice groups sending data to said ports and having said informationprocessing device, wherein each of said resource groups has a secondplural kinds of resources among said ports, said information processingdevice groups, said first controller, said memory, said secondcontroller, said disk drive groups, and said logical units.
 3. The diskarray system according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality ofphysical resources having said ports, said first controller, saidmemory, said second controller, and said disk drive groups; and aplurality of logical resources having said logical units; wherein saidfirst resource is one of said physical resources, and wherein saidsecond resource and said third resource are each one of said logicalresources.
 4. The disk array system according to claim 1, wherein, inorder to change configuration in said second resource group, said fourthresource is changed from a fourth state of relating to a fifth resourcein said second resource group into a fifth state of relating to a sixthresource in said second resource group without being permitted to changeto a sixth state of relating to said first resource in said firstresource group, and wherein one or more resources in said first resourcegroup are a different kind than all of the resources in said secondresource group.
 5. The disk array system according to claim 1, wherein,in order to change configuration in said second resource group, saidfourth resource is changed from a fourth state of relating to a fifthresource in said second resource group into a fifth state of relating toa sixth resource in said second resource group; and wherein a seventhresource among said ports, said first controller, said memory, saidsecond controller, said disk drive groups, and said logical units doesnot belong to either of said first resource group and said secondresource group.
 6. The disk array system according to claim 1, wherein:said information processing device displays information of someresources in said first resource group and requests to change said firststate into said second state.
 7. The disk array system according toclaim 1, further comprising: a managing device having informationrelating to said resource groups; and a management client coupled tosaid managing device and displaying information of some resources insaid first resource group and requesting to change said first state intosaid second state.
 8. The disk array system according to claim 1,wherein: said first resource and said second resource are used totransfer data sent from said information processing device to a firststorage region of said storage regions in said first resource group; andsaid first resource and said third resource are used to transfer datasent from said information processing device to said first storageregion or a second storage region of said storage regions in said firstresource group.
 9. The disk array system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a plurality of information processing devices sending datato said ports, said information processing device being one of saidplurality of information processing devices; wherein one of saidinformation processing devices is permitted to access data in a firststorage region of said storage regions in said first resource group andis not permitted to access data in a second storage region of saidstorage regions in said first resource group, and wherein another ofsaid information processing devices is permitted to access data in saidsecond storage region of said storage regions in said first resourcegroup and not permitted to access data in said first storage region ofsaid storage regions in said first resource group.
 10. A disk arraysystem, comprising: a port receiving data from an information processingdevice; a logical unit provided for said information processing deviceand relating to a storage region; a RAID (Redundant Array of IndependentDisks) group relating to a plurality of disk drives, said disk drivesstoring a plurality of data and a parity data related to data sent fromsaid information processing device and including said storage region; aplurality of logical resources having said port, said logical unit andsaid RAID group; a plurality of physical resources including said diskdrives; a plurality of resource groups each having one or more saidlogical resources and one or more said physical resources; and wherein,in order to change configuration in a first resource group of saidresource groups, said first resource is permitted to change from a firststate of relating between said first resource and a second resource insaid first resource group into a second state of relating between saidfirst resource and a third resource in said first resource group withoutbeing permitted to change to a third state of relating to a fourthresource in a second resource group of said resource groups.
 11. A diskarray system, comprising: a plurality of ports each receiving data froman information processing device; a plurality of logical units providedfor said information processing device and relating to a plurality ofstorage regions; a plurality of disk drives having said storage regions;a plurality of ECC (Error Check and Correct) groups relating to saiddisk drives and each of said ECC groups storing a plurality of data anda parity data related to data sent from said information processingdevice; a first plurality of resources having said ports, said logicalunits, said disk drives and said ECC groups; a second plurality ofresources having plural types of resources in said first plurality ofresources; and a plurality of resource groups each having said secondplurality of resources; wherein, in order to change configuration in oneof said resource groups, said one of said resource groups can bepermitted to change a relationship between said second plurality ofresources in said one of said resource groups and can not be permittedto change a relationship between one of said second plurality ofresources in said one of said resource groups and another of said secondplurality of resources in another resource group of said resourcegroups.
 12. A disk array system, comprising: a port receiving data sentfrom an information processing device; a logical unit provided for saidinformation processing device to store data and relating to a storageregion; a logical unit provided for said information processing deviceto store data and relating to a storage region; a plurality of diskdrives having said storage region; a RAID (Redundant Array ofIndependent Disks) group relating to said disk drives, said disk drivesstoring a plurality of data and a parity data related to data sent fromsaid information processing device; and a plurality of resource groupseach having plural types of resources among said port, said logicalunit, said disk drives and said RAID group and each of said resourcegroups being logically partitioned by logical partitions; wherein, inorder to change configuration in one of said resource groups, said oneof said resource groups is permitted to change a relationship betweensaid plural types of resources in said one of said resource groups andis not permitted to change a relationship between one resource in saidone of said resource groups and another resource in another resourcegroup of said resource groups.
 13. A disk array system, comprising: aport receiving data sent from an information processing device; a firstcontroller transferring data received by said port; a memory storingdata in accordance with controlling by said first controller; a secondcontroller transferring data stored in said memory; a disk drive groupstoring data transferred by said second controller and having aplurality of disk drives; a logical unit number being an address towhich data is sent from said information processing device andcorresponding to a storage region in said disk drive group; a pluralityof resource groups each having said port, a part or all of said firstcontroller, a part or all of said memory, a part or all of said secondcontroller, said disk drive group, and said logical unit number; andwherein, in order to change configuration in a first resource group ofsaid resource groups, a first resource in said first resource group ispermitted to change from a first state of relating to a second resourcein said first resource group into a second state of relating to a thirdresource in said first resource group and is not permitted to changefrom said first state into a third state of relating to a fourthresource in a second resource group of said resource groups.
 14. A diskarray system, comprising: a port receiving data sent from an informationprocessing device; a logical unit number provided for said informationprocessing device and relating to said port; a RAID (Redundant Array ofIndependent Disks) group relating to a plurality of disk drives, saiddisk drives storing a plurality of data and a parity data related todata sent from said information processing device to said port; aplurality of logical resources having said port, said logical unitnumber and said RAID group; a plurality of physical resources havingsaid disk drives; a plurality of resource groups each having one or moreof said logical resources and one or more of said physical resources;wherein, in response to a request for changing configuration in a firstresource group of said resource groups, a first resource in said firstresource group can be permitted to change from a first state of relatingbetween said first resource and a second resource in said first resourcegroup into a second state of relating between said first resource and athird resource in said first resource group and can be not permitted tochange said first state into a third state of relating between saidfirst resource and a fourth resource in a second resource group of saidsecond resource groups.
 15. The disk array system according to claim 12,wherein a first information processing device related to said one ofsaid resource groups can access resources in said one of said resourcegroups and cannot access resources in said another of said resourcegroups.
 16. The disk array system according to claim 14; wherein a firstinformation processing device related to said first resource group canbe permitted to access resources in said first resource group and can benot permitted to access resources in said second resource group.